96 AGRICULTURE 



I 



An ameliorative process that is still largely 

 practised on the heavy lands of England, 

 especially in our drier districts, is Bare 

 Fallowing, that is, the leaving of a field 

 without a crop during a whole season. It 

 is a process that is not now so common as 

 formerly, though, in 1910, in Bedfordshire 

 1 acre in 11 of the tillage area, in Huntingdon 

 1 acre in 12, and in Essex 1 acre in 13, was 

 under bare fallow ; which contrasts with 

 1 acre in 876 in Cumberland, and 1 acre in 

 1516 in Haddington. The average for the 

 whole of England in 1910 was 1 acre under 

 bare fallow for 31 acres of tillage, or fully 

 three per cent. ; while for Scotland the 

 corresponding figures are 1 to 546, or less 

 than one-fifth per cent. It is extremely 

 doubtful whether so high a percentage of 

 bare fallow as prevails in certain districts 

 of England is justified, for if land cannot be 

 kept under cultivation except by periodically 

 missing a crop, it is probable that, on the 

 whole, it would pay better to lay the land 

 away to permanent grass. Then, again, it 

 is not infrequently possible to grow a clean- 

 ing crop, such as mangolds, cabbages, swedes, 

 turnips, or beans, and thus avoid the necessity 

 of bare fallowing. 



The objects of bare fallowing are various. 



